Free Katie and the Mustang, Book 2 by Kathleen Duey Page B

distance, and, after a few more minutes, the wind brought the faint smell of distant rain.
    â€œKatie!”
    It was Hiram’s voice. I called back to him, but I knew he hadn’t heard me because he shouted again. I didn’t answer a second time, because I didn’t want to startle the horses. Instead, I released the lead rope and scrambled out from beneath the wagon.
    â€œI’m fine!” I called, and waited for him to get closer so I could ask him if the Kylers were all right and find out what he knew about the fire. But he didn’t come closer.
    â€œGood!” he yelled.“I’ll be back as quick as I can!” And then he was gone again.
    I dragged my pallet out of the wagon bed and wrestled the wind for my blankets. I hauled them beneath the wagon and made a bed of sorts next to Hiram’s empty blankets, curling myself up, my back to the wind, the lead rope held loosely in one hand.
    The Mustang’s lowered muzzle was close enough to touch, and I reached toward him slowly, letting him smell my hand before I dared to brush my fingers across his velvety muzzle. He nibbled at my fingers, licking salt from my skin like an old plow mare.
    I closed my eyes and pretended my parents were asleep in the wagon bed above me, my little sister lying between them to keep warm. And somehow, I drifted off to sleep.

CHAPTER NINE

    The light in the sky struck earth, and something
burned. It scared the little one. I stood close. All the
two-leggeds must understand this. Fire in high wind
terrifies all that live. This fear we all share.
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    â€œ K atie?” It was a woman’s voice.
    I opened my eyes and felt for the lead rope, then sat up too fast and banged my head on the underside of the wagon bed.
    â€œBe careful.”
    â€œI’m all right,” I answered, wriggling out from beneath the wagon. The world was still. The wind had gone.
    â€œWe thought you might be hungry.”
    It was Hannah, Andrew’s wife. I couldn’t remember ever really talking to her; she was usually busy with their baby. “I came to offer you breakfast,” she said.
    â€œIs Hiram all right?” I asked, suddenly worried.
    Hannah nodded. “I think he dozed off. He stayed up most the night with Annie.”
    â€œIs she hurt?” I asked, finally understanding why Hiram hadn’t come back—but if Annie had sprained an ankle jumping from a wagon gate or something, she had more than a dozen people to take care of her. I didn’t have another except Hiram.
    I saw a worried look come into Hannah’s eyes. “Her hands are burned badly. She ran to help with the fire. I’m not sure yet how it happened, but I know four wagons just upwind from ours burned to ashes.”
    I swallowed hard, feeling guilty. “Whose wagons?”
    â€œThree belonged to the family from Philadelphia. I don’t know the other people—they weren’t part of our party, but the sparks flew in a wind gust and...”
    Hannah trailed off, her voice heavy with weariness and worry. I glanced at the Mustang. He was half dozing, his weight on three legs. The mares were calm and still. Their tether lines were tied to the wagon. The oxen were asleep.
    â€œWill you come?” Hannah asked me again.
    The whole camp was pretty quiet. Not many people were awake yet. It made sense. Most of them had probably barely slept the whole night long; they would rise a little later than usual.
    â€œI can’t be gone too long,” I told Hannah.
    She nodded. “Just long enough to eat. My mother promised Hiram she’d look after you.”
    I walked beside Hannah as we started off, trying to smooth my dirty dress a little, but the cloth was creased from sleeping in it.
    â€œWe all look pretty dirty today,” Hannah said. “No one will notice.”
    I glanced at her. She was smiling at me. I tried to smile back, but I couldn’t.